Sculpture and Architectural Restoration

Everyone thinks of the arts as wild and free.
Everyone except artists, who know better. All of the arts require skills (work) and process (work).

Architectural restoration is technical sculpture.
It isn't about making anything up, rather it's how close can you get your object to match what was.

The pine cone roughed out.

 

Here's the pine cone almost finished. Note the pencil center line and horizontal lines.
Paying attention to drawing and constantly referencing these can seem like a student exercise.
You know what? It's makes working faster and more concise.

Overall, it's got a good range of light to dark. Now to tighten it up and make every thing align.